Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $28.00.

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price target (up from $36.00) on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Kura Oncology from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective (up previously from $11.00) on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 target price on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Monday, October 20th.

Kura Oncology Stock Down 4.8%

KURA opened at $8.91 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.86. Kura Oncology has a 52 week low of $5.41 and a 52 week high of $12.49. The company has a quick ratio of 5.12, a current ratio of 5.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock has a market cap of $775.35 million, a PE ratio of -3.59 and a beta of 0.25.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.85) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.57) by ($0.28). The firm had revenue of $20.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.48 million. Kura Oncology had a negative return on equity of 65.42% and a negative net margin of 208.48%. As a group, research analysts expect that Kura Oncology will post -2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Mollie Leoni sold 15,485 shares of Kura Oncology stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.18, for a total value of $173,122.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 225,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,520,575.72. The trade was a 6.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Francis Burrows sold 23,726 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.78, for a total value of $232,040.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 33,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $329,928.30. This represents a 41.29% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 68,343 shares of company stock worth $730,858 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kura Oncology

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KURA. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kura Oncology by 407.8% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 760,332 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,018,000 after buying an additional 610,604 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in Kura Oncology by 6.3% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 50,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,000 after acquiring an additional 2,977 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kura Oncology during the 1st quarter worth $2,180,000. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Kura Oncology during the 1st quarter valued at $143,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of Kura Oncology by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 105,206 shares of the company’s stock worth $694,000 after purchasing an additional 5,215 shares in the last quarter.

About Kura Oncology

Kura Oncology, Inc (NASDAQ: KURA) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of targeted oncology therapies. Headquartered in La Jolla, California, the company leverages expertise in molecular biology and precision medicine to identify key drivers of cancer growth and design small-molecule inhibitors that block those pathways. Kura’s research platform integrates genomic insights with medicinal chemistry to advance candidates against well-validated targets in solid tumors and hematologic malignancies.

The company’s lead clinical candidate, tipifarnib, is a farnesyltransferase inhibitor being evaluated for the treatment of HRAS-mutant head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and various non-small cell lung cancers.